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SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NEWS NUMBER 9

2. SA's renewable energy progress

Draft White Paper on Renewable Energy The World Summit did not establish targets for the development of renewable energy resources, but South Africa is in the process of adopting a ten-year target - as part of the draft White Paper on the Promotion of Renewable Energy and Clean Energy Development, which is now available for public comment. But the proposed target contradicts the goals and objectives articulated in the rest of the document. DME officials freely admit that the World Bank has been instrumental in "trimming" the target - it has deteriorated enormously since the first 'consensus' strategy document was assembled a year and a half ago. The emasculation of this target, which will inform South African energy development for the next ten and more years, is justified as a 'realistic' approach - aligned with what the World Bank wants to achieve in South Africa through use of its Prototype Carbon Fund. DME officials are limiting national implementation of sustainable development, apparently due to leverage by a single player! Our national spending and energy strategy should be informed by the social and environmental benefits that could be realised by capitalising on our most neglected natural resource: renewable energy. Instead, drafters are pandering to special interests, forgetting that policy should guide and stimulate investment, rather than being bought. The DME is hamstrung by a perception that the World Bank can only operate within set-asides. Set-asides are a sure way of keeping RE in its current Cinderella state. The Bank understandably wishes to operate exclusively on open tenders, which is fine if you have a level playing field. In SA this never has been the case nor is it the current state. RE technologies have consistently been disadvantaged. So the RE grid-feeder law which has been demonstrated to be successful in establishing RE industries with concomitant jobs, environmental benefits, forex savings and energy diversity is the way to go and should not be delayed at this stage. This system is open-ended and no one can predict what market share RE technologies will achieve. At the same time the Bank is free to do its intervention the way it sees fit. The single target in the White Paper proposes adding an amount of renewable energy to final consumption, over the next ten years that is equal to only 0.15% of current consumption in ONE year. Such a target is not only a spotlight on the lack of political will and vision, it would also effectively be a barrier to the very development that the policy is supposed to promote. The RE target is to increase final consumption of RE by 10 000 GWh or 0.86 Mtoe by 2012. This is an addition of 1.5% of final energy consumption from renewables (using final energy is very confusing, because biomass burned to generate electricity is really primary and not final energy). According to DME, in 2000 biomass was 8.7% of final consumption. In addition, cogeneration by industry from bagasse is another percent or so. So this is why DME is saying that 10% of final energy is the goal - it's not very far from where we are now. That's of course assuming that ALL the 8,7% from biomass was renewable. There is no data to verify this as it's all based on projections from very small samples of household surveys, which in most cases were not very rigorous. Until government does something to improve data on fuelwood use (supply and demand), it's deceptive to include it in the "renewable" energy accounting. If we look at electricity, current production in SA is about 195 000 GWh, with only 1% from hydro and bagasse. An additional 10 000 GWh, if it was all electricity, would make renewables about 6% of electricity production by 2012. As there are 8760 hours in a year, each 1MW capacity for a biomass plant with 0.75 availability factor would deliver 6 570 MWh per year assuming only 0.25 availability factor for wind, each MWe would deliver 2190 MWh p.a. Thus, to deliver the additional 10 000 GMh target could be achieved with 456.6 MWe wind operating for ten years, or 152.2 MWe biomass operating for ten years. Considering that liquid biofuels could/should account for at least 5 000 GWh over the next ten years, the second half of the target could be met, by example, with 100 MWe wind plus 100MWe biomass generation installed gradually over five years. This is without even counting what can be achieved with solar and mini hydro. The importance of solar water heaters (SWH) as a form of renewable energy, a forex saver and a job creator has been overlooked in past versions of the Paper and this looks set to continue. The time to give SWH its rightful place in the sun is now (see Q&A at end of document). Targets should also be specified for liquid fuels and the application of passive solar design in housing. The paper champions investment incentives. While they do address issues of high start-up costs of many RE technologies, they can lead to installations that produce no electricity. We have heard many warnings of the shortcomings of investment incentives, as opposed to feed-in regulation/law or REPS, with USA providing cautionary tales. Rural renewable energy programme provides energy, jobs and raises high school pass rate. Renewable energy programmes introduced in rural areas are far more likely to be sustainable when they are undertaken as holistic, multi-faceted programmes aimed at uplifting the whole community. The experience of the 2000-strong community of Maphephetheni, situated in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu/Natal, bears this out. Solar Engineering Services began in 1996 with a pilot solar home system programme here, and the project has grown over time to encompass school electrification (incorporating a computer centre and distance learning), clinic electrification and solar water heating, battery charging and solar-powered pay cell phones, solar cooking, crop drying and rainwater harvesting, biogas for cooking and refrigeration, and a project which is just getting underway to use biogas to power a generator for electricity at a school, water pumping to irrigate community gardens and deliver water to homes, and tourism opportunities. The success of this venture is based on the fact that it was undertaken as a basket of projects so that the overhead costs for training, supervision, travel, marketing, financing, quality control and so on can be shared between the projects. Some 43 jobs have been created at Maphephethe during the first phase. Phase two will extend the benefits from the programmes to the larger community. Myeka High School is one of three high schools in Maphephetheni not connected to the electricity grid. In 1995, Eskom installed the first of some 2000 PV systems, as part of its rural schools electrification programme. The 357 Wp x 24 volt AC/DC system provided electricity and lighting for three classrooms and the headmaster's office. The lights remained largely unused, as the school seldom conducted activities at night. The computer system kicked these facilities into operation. Today, the educational infrastructure at Myeka High School is powered by two stand-alone PV arrays and one solar/gas hybrid generator, with a total installed capacity of 2.4 kWp. The hybrid system, which is on loan to the school from Mangosuthu Technikon, consists of a 340 Wp array connected to twelve 2 volt Willard deep-cycle batteries providing 510 AH storage. This system incorporates a UW gas generator connected to a 1.7 kW battery charger. The entire system is linked to a 2.4 kW 220 volt inverter. Shell Renewables SA donated fourteen 75 Wp modules which have been mounted on an array by Solar Engineering Services (SES). Both the Shell and Eskom arrays are connected to a 24 volt x 612 AH modified deep-cycle battery bank. Community members have been involved in every aspect of every project, and the importance of their involvement cannot be overemphasized. Since the project started four years ago, the school's final-year pass rate has improved each year - from 35% to 45%, to 55%, and most recently to 69%. The power supply operates 27 computers, four 74 cm (29 inch) colour TV sets, overhead projectors, printers and photocopiers. The school has full Internet access via a GSM modem and cell phone link. Infosat, one of two satellite connectivity companies in South Africa, provides this technology. (There are no landlines within 5 km of the school.) The Learning Channel Campus in Johannesburg has made a full range of high school educational material available. This material is transferred to the school via a digital satellite; and is then downloaded onto a computer in each classroom and viewed by the pupils on 74 cm TV screens. Five computers donated by Dell SA have been installed in the computer centre. The next phase of the project is to use a biogas digester to produce methane, which will be used to drive a generator. This will provide electricity for the school's further expansion, and will also eliminate the need to buy gas for the hybrid system. The digester will be fed by human excreta from the 850 students and teachers. It is important to note that over 50% of rural schools in SA have no toilet facilities - as such, the implications for the school biogas programme are extremely far-reaching. It has the potential to transform what is currently a major liability (inadequate toilet facilities and no electricity) into a major asset. - willcawood@solarengineering.co.za ESKOM watch-dogs continue to cut electricity Late August, members of the ANC Youth League and Sanco, subcontracted by ESKOM, continued to seize electricity boxes in Orange Farm and extort bribes from their fellow community members. Eight years after the first democratic elections, the government has failed to deliver free basic services as promised. On the contrary, living conditions have worsened as water and electricity cut-offs now occur on a regular basis. With an alarming unemployment rate of 75%, Orange Farm households are not in a position to purchase pre-paid electricity cards and many have resorted to bridging electricity boxes. ESKOM has responded to the crisis by appointing local members of the ANC Youth League and Sanco to spy on their neighbours, friends and family and cut the electricity in the case of "illegal" consumption. This strategy has been implemented under the banner of job creation and one might wonder about the ethical implications of ESKOM's contribution to poverty alleviation. The situation has further deteriorated in the past weeks as ESKOM workers have stripped households of electricity boxes and demanded large sums in return for the box. In some cases, bribes reached several thousands of rands and pre-paid electricity cardholders were also subject to harassment and blackmail. As a sign of their contempt and outrage, residents attacked an ESKOM worker who attempted to make his way into a household located in Drieziek 1 on August 19. Shortly after the incident, a police car arrived on the scene in order to protect ESKOM workers from the angry crowd and allow them to proceed with their tasks. Although the police intimidated protesters with their guns, the crowd managed to chase them away and the day ended with a victory. ESKOM denies knowledge of its employees' behaviour and refuses to take responsibility for it as the work is subcontracted. One ESKOM official has suggested that victims make complaints and pinpoint the culprits. It is clear that such a tactic would individualise the struggle for free basic services and further divide the population of Orange Farm. The Orange Farm Water Crisis Committee (OWCC) has been formed as a response to the recurrent water shortages in the township and the imminent introduction of pre-paid water cards. Its ultimate aim, however, is to fight against the privatisation of all basic services: water, electricity and sanitation. Following the creation of the OWCC, mass meetings have taken place throughout the week in different extensions in order to consult the residents for a plan of action. Through a democratic process, the community decided to take up the struggle and march to ESKOM's office in Palm Springs on the 22nd of August. The aim of the demonstration is to denounce the use of pre-paid electricity cards and demand the resignation of municipal councillors who have shown to serve the interests of large, profit-seeking corporations like ESKOM, Johannesburg Water and PickiTup. http://sa.indymedia.org/news COSATU takes on plastic bags Minister Moosa has been telling all stakeholders that the environmental sector is solidly behind his proposals to regulate the use of plastic bags but not any detail of whom and how they have 'signed on'. COSATU is developing an alternative proposal, designed to avoid job losses and involving, inter alia, promotion of recycling - with the possibility of a non-profit company (section 21) being established - a refundable levy/charge for plastic bags charged by retailers which should embrace imported bags; stimulating demand for recyclate (pellets produced by recyclers) possibly through regulating a minimum percentage in garbage bags and certain piping; looking at alternatives to plastic. COSATU will send out a document detailing their proposal soon and would like to determine the potential for support from environmental / social justice organisations. They would like to hold a meeting by the end of the month. Interested parties are invited to contact Tanya van Meelis: tanya@cosatu.org.za, Ph: (011) 339 4911.

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